Method of electric illumination



[No Model.)

E. A. COLBY. METHOD OF ELECTRIC ILLUMINATION.

No. 49 ,879. I

Patented June 6, 1893 XTIEYI;

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TATES Nrrnn PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. COLBY, OF NEWARK, NE'W JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,879, dated June 61893. Application filed February 15, 1893. Serial No. 462,405. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. COLBY, of Newark, Essex county, NewJersey, have invented ,a new and useful Improvement in Methods ofElectrical Illumination, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists, first, in a method of causing incandescence orglow in a suitable filament, in ring or closed form, inclosed in asubstantially exhausted receiver and disposed in the varying field offorce due to a varying (alternating, pulsating or intermittent) currentof electricity and, second, in the method of modifying the intensity ofthe light emit ted by said glowing filament by moving the latter intoregions of the field where the in ductive effect is weaker or stronger.

I may carry my invention into effect in many ways and by many differentforms of apparatus. I describe herein one form of apparatus which ispractical and operative and by means of which said method may be causedto give beneficial results; but I do not claim herein the constructionof said apparatus for the reason that the same is fully described andclaimed by me in another application for Letters Patent, Serial No.462,404,, simultaneously filed herewith by me.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the lamp of Fig. 2 invertical section mounted upon the primary of an induction coil andprovided with means for moving it longitudinally upon said coil. Fig. 2shows the lamp in vertical section separately. Fig. 3 shows theinnerglass tube of the lamp which carries the filament; the said filamenthere being a series of rings surrounding the tube. Figs. 4, 5and 6illustrate modifications of the device for moving the lamplongitudinally upon the induction coil.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The lamp proper consists of an annular or hollow cylindrical glassVessel, A, Fig. 2. The said vessel may be regarded as consisting of aninner tube, B, Fig. 3, and an outer tube, 0, which are united at theirextremities. This construction is adopted for convenience, as in rately,and then unite the tube B to the remainder of the vessel A, so as toproduce a closed glass chamber. Before the tube B is connected to therest of the vessel A, I seal into it a wire, D, which may be ofplatinum. Thewire' D is sealed into the tube H at its ends. Upon thetube B I place one or more rings,.E, of carbon suitable for the filamentof aglow lamp, and I connect these rings to the wire D, so that the wireserves as a support for the rings upon the tube B. I only show onesupporting wire, D, here, but I may use" other similar supporting wiresto D, if

they be found desirable. After the tube B carrying the wire D and ringsE is connected to the tube 0 and the lamp A thus completed, I exhaustthe air from the interior of said lamp through an opening which may belocated anywhere convenient; as, for example, at F, Fig. 2, for. whichpurpose I use any of the known means now employed for the exhaustion ofthe bulbs of electric lamps. When this exhaustion is completed, Ihermetically seal the opening F in the usual way. It will be observedthat the rings E and wire D are completely inclosed within the exhaustedvessel A and that there are no leading-in wires of any sort passing intothe vessel A and communicating with the wire D or rings E.

The filaments or rings E constitute each a circuit closed on itself, andeach and every one of these rings becomes the secondary coil of aninduction coil or transformer when placed in suitable inductiveproximity .to the primary coil thereof, or, in other words, in the fieldof the transformer. When the chamber A containing the rings E is soplaced in inductive proximity to a primary coil through which a varying(alternating, or intermittent, or pulsating) current of electricity ispassing, then, if the induced currents in the rings E be ofsufficientstrength and pressure, the said rings E will glow or becomeincandescent and emit light in the ordinary way.

I will now describe one mode of arranging the rings E in the field of aprimary coil. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings,

in which G is a primary coil inclosing the usual core, H, made uppreferably of a bundle of straight iron wire and secured to a base, I.The wires J Kconnect the coil G with any suitable source of alternatingcurrent. The

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lamp A is placed upon the platform I and receives in its inner tubularopening the coil G. In this way the rings E are brought in closeinductive proximity to the coil G. It is to be understood that I do notlimit myself to this precise construction, because there are other waysof arranging the rings E so that they will operate practically assecondary coils to a primary coil carrying the current; but theforegoing is sufficient to exhibit to any person skilled in the art oneway in which this result can be operatively and usefully accomplished;and this being shown, it is within the knowledge of the electricalworkman at the present time to arrange other ways of producing the sameresult without the exercise of anything more than mechanical andordinary electrical skill.

I have stated that the intensity of the light of the rings E can bevaried by moving them into stronger or weaker parts of the field offorce. Thus, I may move the rings into a region where they are traversedby a greater or less number of lines of force, or into a region Where,generally speaking, the inductive effect is greater or less than in someother. One mode of accomplishing this is exhibited in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, and other equivalent means are represented in Figs. 4, 5, 6.In Fig. 1 the primary coil G has an envelope, L, the exterior peripheryof which is threaded to receive the nut M. The lamp A, which surroundscoil G, rests on the nut M and thus may be supported in any desiredposition longitudinally the coil, as indicated by the dotted lines. Theposition of the rings E is thus changed with relation to the field offorce produced bythe coil G. When the lamp A is in the position shown byfull lines, Fig. 1, so that it embraces the whole of the coil G, thenits rings will receive the strongest inductive effect and will glow mostbrightly; but when the lamp A is lifted or moved along the pri mary coilG, as indicated in dotted lines Fig. 1, then, as is obvious, the rings Ewill include less of the field, and hence will be subjected to a reducedinductive influence, so that the brilliancy of their glow will bediminished. With a given varying current, the light-giving capacity ofthe rings may thus be regulated by moving the lamp A upon the primarycoil G.

The particular device for moving the lamp A is not at all essential tomy invention, because the lamp A may be moved by hand, and held inadjusted position by any suitable means; as, for example, by theinterposition of washers, or supports between the bottom of said lampand platform I, as indicated in Fig 5 at N, or I may arrange adjustingscrews passing through the platform I and bearing against the lower sideof the vessel A, as shown at 0, Fig. 6. Or, extending across the upperpartof the lamp A there may be a bar, P, through which passes a screw,Q, the lower end of which bears upon the end of core H and the upper endof which is provided with a milled head, R; so that by turning the screwQ I can vary the position of the lamp A on the coil G.

It is to be distinctly understood that I do not herein limit myself toVarying the intensity of the glow of the lamp by moving the lamp onlywith reference to the field, because I may move (first) the lamp,leaving the support and inducing coil stationary, or (second) the coil,leaving the lamp and support stationary, or (third) the support, leavingthe lamp and coil stationary. To illustrate (first), the lamp in Fig. 1may, as already described, be moved on the supports, as indicated bydotted lines, or (second), the

lamp may be held fixed in any suitable clampv or bracket and the core Hand base I may also be so held, then the coil G within the lamp may bemoved to slide longitudinally upon the core, or (third), the lamp beingheld fixed in any suitable clamp or bracket and the coil G also being soheld, the core I-I may be slid longitudinally within the coil G. Thecandle power of the lamp can obviously be altered in either of thesethree ways.

I claim 1. The method of causing incandescencein an electric glow lamp,which consists in subjecting a ring or closed coil filament inclosed ina substantially exhausted receiver to the inductive influence of thefield produced by varying currents in an external electric conductor,substantially as described.

2. The method of varying the intensity of the glow of an electric glowlamp containing a ring or closed coil filament inclosed in asubstantially exhausted receiver and subjected to the inductiveinfluence of the field produced by varying currents in an externalelectric conductor, which consists in varying the position of said lampin said field to bring itinto a portion thereof where said inductiveinfluence is greater or less, substantially as described.

3. The method of causing incandescence in an electric glow lamp, whichconsists in disposing the filament of said lamp as the secondary of aninduction coil or'transformer and causing a varying current to traversethe primary of said transformer, substantially as described.

4. The method of varying the intensity of the glow of an electric glowlamp the filament ofwhich is disposed as the secondary of an inductioncoil or transformer, through the primary of which a varying current iscaused to pass, which consists in moving said filament upon said primarycoil so as to embrace more or less of the field produced by said primarycoil, substantially as described.

5. The method of varying the intensity of the glow of an electric glowlamp the filament of which is disposed as the secondary of an inductioncoil or transformer and is supported upon the core inclosed by the pri-.mary coil of said transformer through which primary coil a varyingcurrent is caused to pass, which consists in moving said primary coil inthe direction of the longitudinal axis of said coil to vary theinductive eifect of said coil upon the lamp filament.

6. The method of varying the intensity of the glow of an electric glowlamp the fila: ment of which is disposed as the secondary of aninduction coil or transformer and is supported upon the core inclosed bythe primary coil of said transformer through which primary coil avarying current is caused to pass, which consists in moving said corewithin said primary coil and lamp in the direction of the longitudinalaxis of said coil and thereby varying the strength of the fieldinfluencing said lamp filament.

EDWARD A. COLBY.

Witnesses:

' H. R. MOLLER,

M. Boson.

